Sharq Al-Andalus\Volumen 16-17

Millenarian prophecy and the mythification of P hilip III
Sharq al-Andalus, 16-17 (1999-2002), pp. 187-209
MILLENARIAN PROPHECY
AND THE MYTHIFICATION OF PHILIP III
AT THE TIME OF THE EXPULSION OF THE MORISCOS
Grace Magnier
Trinity College Dublin
In their task of justifying retrospectively the expulsion of the M oriscos, the Catholic
apologists all resort to a mythification of Philip III. In doing this they rely on the mediaeval
political prophecies commonly in circulation in the Iberian peninsula. All apologists tend to use
similar sources. The primary ones are the works of Joachim of Fiore and his followers, whose
millenarian biblical exegesis was grafted onto the mediaeval millenarian Siby lline prophecies,
the fourth-century Tiburtina and the seventh-century Pseudo-Methodius, from which the myth
of the Emperor of the Last Days evolved. In the Spanish version of this myth the reconquest of
North Africa precedes that of Jerusalem. All the apologists indulge in rhetorical admonitions to
Philip III to follow up his conquest of Islam in Spain, which is how they view his expulsion of
the M oriscos, by imitating the mythical journey of the Last World Emperor and proceeding
towards Jerusalem via North Africa. The king’s sons are admonished to mount symbolically the
Holy Hill of Sion.1
Relying on both the indigenous prophetic tradition, falsely ascribed to St. Isidore or
M erlin, and the M ediaeval Eritraean Sibyl, all the apologists equate with Philip III the lion
1.
“ El segundo es, ver las felicidades que publican de V. altezas doctos y graues P ronosticos, fundados en los
selestiales Astros, prometi #edoles la conquista y triumpho de Ierusalem, y libertad del santo Sepulchro, cõ
notables victorias de los Mahometanos, dando por tierra sus menguantes Lunas y poniendo en su lugar la
Cru z santissima, començandose esto despues de la Expulsion de los Moriscos de España”: M. DE
G UADALAJARA Y JAVIER, “ Dedicatoria a los serenissimos principes de España” , M e m o r a b l e expvlsion y
ivstissimo destierro de los moriscos de España, II (P a mplona: Nicolás de A SSIAYN, 1613), fols A5 r-A5 v.
Richard Kagan has pointed out that “ fulfilment prophecies” were customary on the birth of a royal prince.
This served the purpose of confirming for the people the divine approval o f t h e monarchy. He points out
that López Cañete reproduces those that accompanied the births of the sons of P hi l ip IV, P rinces Charles
a n d Ferdinand: R. K AGAN, Lucrecia’s Dreams: Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century S p a i n
(Berkeley: University of California P ress, 1990), p. 3. I have, in the te xt o f t h i s t a l k, referred to that of
Blessed Nicholas Factor given at the birth of Ferdinand, son of P hilip III.
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which is destined to conquer Asia and overcome the beast of Islam. The divine election of Spain
for this task was revealed by the Great Conjunction of 1603 which confirmed this special role
for Sagittarian Spain. The nativity horoscope of Philip III confirmed this also.2
Finally the apologists cite spurious biblical figurae to attempt to show that Spain had
been singled out for this special role from biblical times. Pedro Aznar Cardona compares Philip
III with the angel of Revelation who turned the rivers and streams to blood as a sign of God’s
vengeance. All apologists refer to extraordinary phenomena that indicate divine concern at the
continuing presence of the M oriscos in Spain. Those described by D amián F onseca are
apocalyptic in character.
MILLENARIAN POLITICAL PROPHECIES
I shall first look at the political prophecies or pronósticos so very popular in spite of the
ban of Pope Sixtus V.3 Used by the Catholic apologists of the expulsion they cast Philip III in
a mythical, warlike role. All have strong millenarian and apocalyptic overtones. M any consider
that the king, now that the M oriscos have been expelled, has been singled out by God to continue
his anti-Islamic crusade by proceeding by way of North Africa to the Holy Land where he will
reconquer Jerusalem:
Despues de destruy d a l a s e c t a mahometana en España y echados los moros, se tratara en ella de la
recuperacion de la Tierra Santa de Hierusalem, y se pregonara guerra
Belief of the pre-eminence of Spain among Christian nations is evident in the picture of
the great lion of Spain brandishing a sword of virtue that has been reserved for him alone. I shall
return to this image later and link it with the Great Lion of Judah of the Book of Revelation. The
bloody imposition of baptism by force is ironic given the great controversy raised by the mass
expulsion of M oriscos, all of whom had been baptised:
[…]
a
una
2.
Este
s i t i ar
exercito
passara
por
el
es t r e c h o
de
G i b ral t ar
en
A fr i c a .
Y
c aminara
l a ciudad de Lybia, o Fez. Y en ella el gran Leon de España, desembaynara
espada
de
virtud,
que
esta
reseruada
para
el.
Y
pro s e g u i r a
su
j o rn ad a
p or
The great conjunction took place in the tenth house which was also the case for the nativity horoscope of
P hilip III: “ […] dice Albumazar (De magnis coniunctionibus) que quando la conjuncion magna sucediere
en la dezena casa de alguno, significa que llegara a posseer grande reyno”: N AVARRO, Discvrso, p. 18.
3.
In his bull Caeli et terrae (1585) P ope Sixtus V banned judicial astrology: J. CARO BAROJA, Vidas mágicas
e inquisición, I (Madrid: Taurus, 1967), p. 180. Juan de Horozco y Covarrubias published a copy of the bull
in his Tratado de la verdadera y falsa profecia (Segovia: Juan de la Cuesta, 1588).
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B e r beria,4 matando y abrassando a los que no pediran el sagrado baptismo, ni professaran el n o mb r e d e
Christo.5
The king, having marched victoriously through North Africa, is seen as conquering, with
divine aid, a superior army at Alexandria and then proceeding to Jerusalem:
[el turco] se retirara a tierra adentro. Y dejandole campo franco al Rey Leon, continuara sus victorias hasta
Hierusalem, y en lle g a n d o a e l l a se arrojara pecho por tierra, y dara gracias a Dios por tantas victorias,
gracias y mercedes.6
This victorious march to liberate Jerusalem recalls that of the Emperor of the Last Days
of the mediaeval Christian Sibylline prophecies.7 However, the initial march across North Africa
is a specifically Spanish addition.8 This mythical figure was seen as the saviour of Christendom
4.
Following the conquest of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews Isabel la católica and Cardinal Francisco
Jiménez de Cisneros cherished the hope of a crusade against the infidel in North Africa. Nothing had been
done by Isabel’ s death in 1504. Cisneros later went on two campaigns; one in 1505 when Mers- el Kebir
was captured, and another in 1509 when Oran was taken: J. H. E LLIOTT, Imperial Spain (London: Arnold,
1963), pp. 41-42.
5.
The Emperor Consta n s o f t h e Tiburtina Sibylline prophecy also puts to the sword those heathens who
refuse baptism, and in the anonymous German early sixteenth-century B o o k of a Hundred Chapters (MS
in Colmar) a “ resurrected” Frederick II would put t o t he sword those infidels who refused the sacrament,
thus baptising them in blood: N. Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millenium (London: Mercury Books, 1957), pp.
16, 121.
6.
G UADALAJARA Y J A V IE R , Memorable expvlsion, fols. 160 v-161 r. This prophecy is ascribed to Blessed
Nicholas Factor (1520-1583) although the date given by Guadajalara y Javier is 1430.
7.
This figure is first mentioned in the Tiburtina Sibylline prophecy that dates from the fourth centu r y A D.
That of Pseudo-Methodius develops the character even more fully. This was composed tow a r d s t h e e nd
o f t he seventh century, at the time when Christians were witnessing the rise of Islam, and was v e r y
influential during the Middle Ages. In it the sons of Ishmael are represented as cruel oppressors. These are
finally d e fe a t e d by a great Christian Emperor, whom men had thought to be dead, but who rose from his
slumbers to defe at Islam: COHN, The Millenium, pp. 31-32. The Pseudo-Methodius falsely purported to be
the work of St. Methodius of Olympus: St. M e t hodius was Bishop of Lycia (d. c. 311) and was probably
martyred at Chalcis in Greece: Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F . J. C R O SS & E. A.
L IVINGSTSONE, 2nd. ed. (London: Oxford University P ress, 1974), p. 910.
8.
A. MILHOU, Coló n y s u mentalidad mesiánica en el ambiente franciscanista español (Valladolid:
Casa-Museo de Colón y Seminario A me r icanista de la Universidad, 1983), p. 304. James II of Aragon
planned such a crusade to reco n q u e r Je r u s a l em. He would first reconquer Granada and then proceed to
P alestine via North Africa. His personal physician a n d v alido, Arnald of Villanova (1240-1311) was
entrusted with the organisation of this cr u s a d e b e tween the years 1306-1309. The expedition, however,
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and universal monarch, a mediaeval role which was also much cherished by Philip III’s
grandfather, the Emperor Charles V.9 In fact, Charles, as grandson of the Holy Roman Emperor,
M aximilian, and of M ary of Burgundy, united in his person the prophetic tradition ascribed to
both the Austrian eagle and the French lily.10 During his candidacy for the H oly Roman
Empire,his charis maat ic name - Charles -had prompted the circulation of the “Second
Charlemagne Text”. This text, originally written for Charles VI of France, saw in the bearer of
this magic name the persona of the Last World Emperor.11 At the time of his election other
prophecies were cited to argue that “[…] the salvation of Europe hung upon it and he who could
sustain this office must be of heroic mould and vast strength”. The sack of Rome in 1527 for
many “[…] fulfilled so dramatically the role of the King-Chastiser who destroys Rome that was
difficult not to see it in this context”.12
In the Sibylline prophecy called the Pseudo-Methodius, greatly developed during the
early expansion of Islam, the Emperor of the Last Days ushers in a Golden Age of material
prosperity and peace. He will be a great Emperor, whom men have long thought dead, but who
will awaken from his slumbers to wage war against the infidel. He will defeat the Ishmaelites and
then journey to Jerusalem. Confronted by the Antichrist he will place his crown on the cross at
Golgotha and die. The Antichrist will then go on to reign until he himself is defeated by Christ.13
Since the M iddle Ages anti-Islamic polemic often described M uhammad as
aprefiguration of Antichrist.14 He was represented as the vomiting dragon who thus regurgitated
never took place: MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 374.
9.
The royal chronicler of Charles V, Juan Ginés de S e p ú l veda, in his Exhortación (1527) cast the emperor
in a similar role. He urged the monarch to turn from the conflict in Italy an d t o t a ke up arms against the
Turks who were then threatening Vienna. In so doing he would be fulfilling his divinely ordained destiny
and taking a step towards a universal Christian empire. Once Gree ce and its neighbours had been
vanquished he might conquer Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and then finally wors hip in the Holy City of
Jerusalem: A. L OSADA, Tratados políticos de Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (Madrid: Instituto de Estudios
P olíticos, 1963), pp. 25-27.
10.
M. REEVES, The Influence of Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages: A Study in Joachimism (Oxford: Oxford
University P ress, 1969), pp. 359-372.
11.
The prophecy of P seudo- M e t h o dius, source of this myth, had begun to recirculate after the fall of
Constantinople in 1453: REEVES, The Influence of Prophecy.
12.
REEVES, The Influence of Prophecy, p. 362.
13.
M. REEVES, “ Joachimist Influences on the Idea of a L a s t W orld Emperor”, Traditio, XVII (1961), p. 324.
14.
N. D ANIEL, Islam and the W est: The Making of an Image, 2nd ed. (Oxford: One World P ublications, 1993),
pp. 2 1 0 - 2 1 1 , 2 18. Basing his case on a passage from the second letter of St. John (2 Jn 7), the Catholic
apologist, P edro Aznar Cardona, goes to some lengt h t o a r g u e that Muhammad is a prefiguration of the
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the ancient heresies which he had been fed by the Devil. The Spanish polemical antialcoranes,
much used as a source by the apologists, put forward this notion.15 As the apologists also tended
to regard the expulsion as the final event in the Christian Reconquest of Spain (conveniently
forgetting that the M oriscos were baptised Christians), the notion of anti-Islamic crusade is
uppermost in their minds. Indeed the frontispiece of one of the apologetic works depicts the
Hydra being slain by the Spanish Hercules. The author explains that Hercules represents Philip
III and the Hydra the dragon of the Apocalypse16 whose seven heads are taken to represent the
great heresies. The last and most pernicious was that of M uhammad which has been duly
removed by the expulsion of the M oriscos.17
Antichrist “ […] la prophecia de San Juan, ya tantas vezes alegada, habla literalmente del sacrilego
Mahoma”: P . A ZNAR CARDONA, Expvlsion ivstificada de los moriscos españoles y suma de las excelencias
christianas de nuestro r e y D. Phelipe, tercero de este nombre, I (Huesca: P edro Cabarte, 1612), fol. 21v
15.
D ANIEL, Islam and the W est.
16.
Apoc 11, 3-4; 13, 1-10.
17.
“ la septima [heresiarcha] y mas perniciosa de todas (que por eso l o d e j e p o r u l t i mo), es el mal profeta
Mahoma, que generalme n t e blasphema de toda la religion christiana”: D. FONSECA, Ivsta expvlsion de los
moriscos de España (Rome: Iacomo Mascardo, 1612), fol. 3 v.
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T HE RECOVERY OF J ERUSALEM
As Alain M ilhou has pointed out, the recovery of Jerusalem had been a constant element
in the mediaeval political prophecies since the time of Joachim of Fiore (c.1145-1202).18 This
twelfth-century biblical exegete and mystic saw the world as evolving towards an immediate
spiritual apotheosis, a third status or millenarian age of the Holy Spirit. Later tradition would
see the defeat and conversion of the infidel and the death of the Antichrist as taking place
immediately before the beginning of this third age. Then in this time of spiritual regeneration the
“Eternal Evangel” of the Book of Revelation (14,6) would be established.
In Spain these themes can be traced back to the Aragonese polymath Arnald of Villanova.
Appointed private physician to Peter III of Aragon in 1281, in the following year he witnessed
the latter’s invasion of Sicily and the massacre and eventual defeat of the French which began
on Easter M onday 1282, at Vespers, and is commonly called the Sicilian Vespers.
The eschatological ideas present in Villanova’s commentary on the prophecy of Joachim
of Fiore Vae mundo in centum annis which Villanova included in his work De cymbalis ecclesiae
(1297-1301), reinforced the messianic ideals of the House of Aragon. In it he uses the title of
New David, probably applied to the king of Aragon, who is given the eschatological role of
reconstructing the citadel of M ount Sion in Jerusalem.19 Villanova was, thus, the first to suggest
that from Spain would come the liberator of Jerusalem and re-builder of the citadel of M ount
Sion.20
18.
Joachim of Fiore, whose work was widely influential from the thirteenth century onwards, evolved a theory
i n w h i ch history reflected the nature of the godhead. The meaning of history was to be found in the
my s terious action of the Trinity which penetrated all ages. At times this took the form of con c o r d a n c e s
betwe e n the OT and the NT and this reflected the relationship between the Father, who is represented in
the OT, and the Son who is present in the NT. The third status or age would be that of the Holy Spirit and
would form the apotheosis of history when th e e l ect would enjoy great happiness in the New Jerusalem.
These three status are described in his w o r k s L i b e r concordiae (the first status), Expositio (the second
status) and the Psalterium of the spiritualis intellectus or third status: M. REEVES, Prophecy in the Later
Middle Ages (Oxford: Clarendon P ress, 1969), p. 5.
19.
MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 235.
20.
Milhou cites the following pasage from the Veh mundum “ eritque solitudo in terra, quosque Novus David
arcem Syon veniat reparare”. Considering the prominence given to the king of Aragon in the rest of the text
this New David may refer t o him. However, it is also possible that the reference is to a reforming pope, a
“ pastor angelicus” in the tradition of Joachim of Fiore: MILHOU, Colón y s u m e n t a l i d ad mesiánica, pp.
376-377. Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writers, convinced of Spain’ s pre-emi n ence among Christian
n a t i o n s , s a w p a rallels between the Hill of Sion, abode of Jahweh in the Old Testament, and Spain, the
country of the New Elect. Milhou reproduces an illustration from a sixteenth guide-book in which
“ geographical exegesis” draws parall e l s b etween the topography of Toledo and Jerusalem: R. DE Y EPES,
Historia de la muerte y martirio del Sanct o Inocente de la Guardia (Madrid:Juan Iñíguez de Lequerica,
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Since the fall of the Latin States in the thirteenth century the recovery of Jerusalem had
been an inevitable backdrop to any camp aign against M oor or Turk.21 Such a proclamation
enhanced the prestige of a monarch and could even aid a usurping sovereign in his quest for
legitimacy. Henry II of Trastámara attempted to win respect for his claim to the throne of Castile
by declaring his intention to conquer Jerusalem.22 Jerusalem was also used in the propaganda war
in Italy when Charles VIII of France invaded that country in the late fifteenth century. For his
solemn entry into Naples on 22 February 1495 the French king wore the quadruple crown of
France, Naples, Constantinople and Jerusalem.23 Sicily was, of course, the source of the claim
to the throne of Jerusalem, a claim which was hotly disputed by the House of Anjou and the
Kingdom of Aragon. The dispute had arisen at the fall of the Latin States and was definitively
ended on 7 July 1510 when Ferdinand el católico was invested as king of Jerusalem by Pope
Julius II.24
1583 [84]:), fols 26 v-27 r. Reproduced in Milhou, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 419.
21.
MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 400.
22.
Milhou claims that the messianic prophecies were used for th e first time in Castile by Henry el bastardo
of Trastáma r a fo l l o w i ng the battle of Montiel both to enhance his prestige and to add legitimacy to his
usurpation: MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 357.
23.
MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 338. The sixth-century church of Santa Sophia was converted
into a mosque in the fifteenth century after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Its recovery
for Cristianity had been the dream of P ope Calixtus III (1455-1458) who believed that God would not allow
him to die until until Constantinople had been regained and the Great Turk had been personally baptised
by himself in Rome. In the late fifteenth century Charles VIII of France also believ e d that he was destined
to reconquer both Constantinope and Rome: MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, pp. 327-328. The
recovery of Constantinope for Christianity and the rededication of the mosque was of similar symbolic
value to that of the liberation of Je r u s a l e m. S i mi larly, Morisco jofores would also regard the taking of
R ome as symbolic of an Islamic victory. The one which claims to be that of Muhammad c U ç mâ n , “ e l - k e
ganó a Gonstantinoble” advises his son to fodder his horse in St. P ete r ’ s : “ I darás çebada a tu kaballo
en-el-altar de P edro i de P ablo ante ke tornes a koronarte a Gonstantinoble, i ayas s o j u d g a d o la-faz de
la-ti yerra de Levante a P oniente”: MS T1 8 , RAH, cited in L. CARDAILLAC, Morisques et Crétiens, un
affrontement polémique (P aris: Klincksieck, 1977), p. 405.
24.
The disputed claim to the throne of Jerusalem reflects, in its early stages, the struggle between the papacy
and the Holy Roman Emperor and later that between Ferdinand el cató l i c o and France. Charles of Anjou
(1126-1185), later King of Naples, fought in the Second Crusade (1147-1149) with his brother Louis VIII
(St. Louis). Following a disputed succession to the throne of Jerusalem, P ope Gregory X urged one of the
claimants, Maria of Antioch, to sell her rights to Charles in opposition t o F r e d e r ick II of Hohenstaufen,
Holy Roman E mp e r o r . The deed was signed in 1277: S. RUNCIMAN, History of the Crusades, III
(Cambridge: Cambridge University P ress, 1955), 5th. e d. (London: P enguin, 1955), pp. 330, 342. The
Aragonese claim is given in an early seventeenth-c e n t u r y book. Fernando Matute y Acevedo claims that
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This Sibylline prophecy of Pseudo-Methodius is cited by the Catholic apologist of the
expulsion of the M oriscos, Jaime Bleda, as authority for the defeat of the infidel and
thebeginning of an age of peace and tranquillity:
Imponent christiani iugum super Sarracenos, et erit pax et tranquillitas magna super terram qualis non fuit
antea, nec similis post illam. P orro sectam Mahometi cito finem habituram, multa praedixerunt vati c i n i a .25
The prestige that would accrue to the monarch following the recapture of Jerusalem and
the ensuing pre-eminence of Spain is explicitly stated by another Catholic apologist, Pedro Aznar
Cardona:
La segunda cosa que debe ser hecha por nuestro prudentissimo Rey Catolico, es #q prosiga adelante en sus
insignes h a z a ñas y emprenda sin dilacion cõ su animo inuencible, la conquista de Ierusalem. P ues, a mas
Yolanda, daughter of John de Brienne, last King of Jerusalem, inherited Jerusalem from her father. She then
brought it as a dowry when she married Frederick II. The latter was crowned King of Jerusalem on Easter
Sunday 1229, and thus, according to Aceved o , h is was the greatest claim: F. MATUTE y A CEVEDO, El
triunfo del desengaño. Contra el engaño y astucia de las edades del mundo para todas las profesiones i
para todos estados (N APLES: Lázaro Escorigio, 1632), p. 107. (The author was an advisor to the Viceroys
of Sicily.) Frederick II had inherited Sicily from his mother Constance of Sicily: S RUNCIMAN, The Sicilian
Vespers ( C a mb ridge: Cambridge University P ress, 1956), pp. 16-17, 26. Frederick’ s granddaughter
Constance married P eter III of Aragon who thus inherited the claim to Sicily and t o Je r u s a l em. In 1282
P e t er invaded Sicily in the operation since called the Sicilian Vespers and ousted the House of A n j o u .
Sicily was, of course, attached t o the Kingdom of Naples which later passed to the crown of Aragon
following the conquest of Naples b y Alfonso V between 1442 and 1443. However, the title to Jerusalem
could not be used by Aragon as this had b e e n conferred on the House of Anjou by the papacy. The title
finally passed to Aragon in 1510 by the bull of Julius II granted to Ferdinand el católico: MILHOU, Colón
y su mentalidad mesiánica, pp. 367-368. The claim to Jerusalem was a mu ch prized one bringing with it
prestige and a claim to pre-eminence. It appears very earl y in the titles listed for P hilip III in a book
published very soon after his accession to the throne. The illustration shows a very youthful P hilip and the
title begins thus: “ P hillipus III, Rex catholicvs, defensor fidei, Hispaniarum, vtrusque Siciliae, Hierusalem,
Hungriae, Dalmatia etc.”: Iconografía hispana: catálogo de los retratos de personajes españoles de la BN
(Madrid: BN Sec ción de Estampas, 1966), 4 vols. The book from which the illustration is taken is refered
to as “ Una historia napolitana de fines del siglo XVI”. Lope de Vega also refers to this title in his Jerusalén
conquistada: “ Rey de Jerusalé n , si a vuestro abuelo/ dejara Francia de ocuparle tanto,/ libre estuviera de
su santo celo/ el sepulcro de Cristo, sacrosanto cielo”: L. DE VEGA, Jerusalén conquistada, ed. F. C. Sainz
de Robles (Madrid: Aguilar, 1964), Book 20, p. 874.
25.
J. BLEDA, Defensio fidei in cavsa neophytorum, siue Morischorum Regni Valentiae, totiusque Hispaniae
[…] Et Tractatus de ivsta Morischorum ab Hispania expulsione (Valenc ia: Juan Chrysóstomo Garriz,
1610), p. 534. The section is subtitled “ De fine saeculi”.
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d e q u e vna empressa tan alta y de tan supremo honor, no conuiene a otro menos que a un tan a l t o R e y, e s
cierto q# por muchos justos titulos le pertenece aquella tierra tã desseada de los chri s t i a n o s , a su Magestad y
a s u corona sacra. El cielo y la tierra tiene el Rey nuestro Señor en su f auor para este esclarecido y desseado
hecho. […] Esta gloriosa victoria de la Tierra Santa, felizmente començada en la saludable expulsion de los
mahometanos, y reseruada por el cielo, para empleo del valor sin segundo de nuestro inclito don Felipe el catolico.26
I direct your attention to the passage that begins “una empressa tan alta y de tan supremo
honor” which articulates the widely-held belief among Spaniards in the divine election of Spain.
It is from this belief that Spanish presumption of pre-eminence among Christian nations derives
and which underlies the phrase “El cielo y la tierra tiene el Rey nuestro Señor en su fauor para
este esclarecido hecho”.
Referring once again to the conquest of Jerusalem Bleda depicts the sons of Philip III,
Princes Philip and Ferdinand, symbolically mounting the Holy Hill of Sion:
Faxit Deus, vt quam citissime haec sanctissima expeditio descernatur, tentetur & inchoetur a domino nostro
rege, qui rex Hierusalem iure vocatur, et in ea p r o s p e r u m i t er ad aperiat & faciat nobis Deus salutarium
nostrorum vt tandem eam benedictam terram recuperemus, Dei ope, regis Hisp a n iae ingenio, Ducis Lermae
suasione, vt ascendant ipse, aut alij saluatores, id est principes suae fa mi liae in sanctum Montem Sion &
fit domino illud regnum & alia multa.
M any prophecies make of this ascent of M ount Sion the emblematic gesture by which
Islam is vanquished and Christianity restored to God’s holy mountain.
Bleda represents the King as investing his treasure from the Indies in this war to conquer
definitively the M oors and other heretics, to recover the Holy Land and to rebuild the holy
church of Santa Sophia in Constantinople:
[…] omnes indicos thesauros insumere in recuperanda Terra Sancta, in debellando mauris & he r e t i c i s , in
reformando Sanctae Sophiae templo constantinopolitano.
Bleda claims that this p rop hecy was made by Ioannes Claromontanus in the early
sixteenth century when writing about the restoration of the church of Santa Sophia in
Constantiniple.27
26.
A ZNAR CARDONA, Expulsión ivstificada, II, fol 143 r -143v. Aznar Cardona also claims that the mysterious
tolling of the church bell in Vililla (Velilla) was a portent, among other events, of the conquest of the Holy
Land: A ZNAR CARDONA, Expvlsion ivstificada, II, fol. 146 v
27.
J. CLAROMONTANUS, Pronosticis de Vngarici regni factis: Bleda, Def e n s i o f idei, pp. 43, 436-437. Aznar
Cardona claims that this pronóstico is mention e d i n a b ook on the House of Hapsburg by a Gerónymo
Gebulero (c. 1480-1545): H. G EBWEILER, Keiserlicher vnd Hispanisher m t auch fürstlicher Durchlüchtikeit,
vnd aller hieuor, Ertzhertzogen vnd Hertzogen von Österreich, derzu der fürstlichen Grauen von Hapsburg
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Bleda and Aznar Cardona claim that these great deeds were foretold by the Great
Conjunction28 of 24 December 1603 as analysed by the “astrónomo Christiano” Dr. Francisco
Navarro. This author considers that this Great Conjunction, taken with the nativity horoscope of
Philip III, shows that Spain, the new Chosen People, will liberate Jerusalem. This was foretold
in the Old Testament Book of Obadiah:
Et ascendent Saluatores in montem Sion iudicare montem Esau.29
The author does not refer to the context which surely must have influenced him into
making this assertion:
alt künglich Harkumen mit Namen ger nahe vff zweitusent Jar. Durch Hieronimus Gebweiller, Hiervor zu
latin, vnd ietzt nachmals zu Tütsch, in diesem büchlin begriffen: (Strasbourg: J. Grienynger, 1527). P erhaps
it is to be found in a book written in 1519 in support of the candidiature of Charles of Ghent for the Holy
Roman Empire: H. G EBWEILER, Libertas Germani a e q u a Germanos Gallis, neminem vero Gallo a
christiano natali Germa n i s Imperasse, certissimis a classicorum scriptorum testimonijs probatur
Hieronymo Gebulero authore. Cited in REEVES, “ Joachimist Influences”, p. 35: A ZNAR CA RDONA,
E x p u l s i ó n i vstificada, II, fol. 149 v. Dr. Francisco Navarro, an “ astrónomo cristiano”, has an interesting
quotation on this topic: “ Gens Sagittaria regnabit tempora longa in Christicolis tuis & reseruabitur alteri,
qui erit pius, regnum Vngarorum dabitur ei et multum misericors quan d o Ecclesiam: ipse reformabit
Ecclesiam P ragensen Sanctae Sophiae templum Constantinopolitanum sc a n d e ta ad ardua inter catholicos.
Sed non de sanguine Mathiae, sed de rupibus Alemaniae orietur & exiet rex synceri s s i mu s [ … ] ” : Dr. F.
N AVARRO, Discvurso sobre la conivncion maxima qve fve en Deziembre del Año 1603. En el qval se
pronostican los felicissimos sucessos, y vitorias #q señala al rey don Phelipe III, nuestro señor, y a su gente
sagitaria, qve son los españoles (Valencia: Juan Chrysóstomo Garriz, 1604), p. 58.
28.
The Themata mundi attempted to base the story o f c r e a t i on on such astrological premises. Great
Conjunctions were also studied by those involved in writing nativities of Christ: J. D. N ORTH, Horoscopes
and History (London: Warburg Institute, University of London, 1986), p. 166.
29.
Abd 1, 21. An early seventeenth-century compendium o f p rophecies may be the source for this reference:
Dr. C. L ÓPEZ DE CAÑETE, Co mpendio de los pronosticos y baticinios antigvos y modernos que publican
la declinacion de l a s e c t a de Mahoma y libertad de Hierusalem y Palestina (Granada: Francisco H eylán,
1630), fol 7 v. Aznar Cardona gives an expanded version: “ Et transmigratio quae in Bosphoro est, possidebit
ciuitates Austri & ascendent Saluatores in Mont #e Syon iudicareMont #e Esau: A ZNAR C ARDONA, Expulsión
ivstificada, fols 150 r-150 v. He explains that this prophecy of Abdias indicates that Islam will be conquered
by Spaniards who will symbolically mount the Holy Hill of Sion thence to sit in judgement on Mount Esau
which he takes to represent the Moors. This exegesis is not supported by the historical facts. The Edomites,
descendents of Isaac’ s son Esau, were despised by the Israelites because they had not come to their aid at
the time of the enforced exile. The prophecy proclaims that the Israelites, the C h o s e n P eople, will return
as saviours to recover the Hill of Sion and restore to it the reign of Jawé: Catholic Biblical Enclyclopedia:
Old Testament, ed. J. E. Steinmueller & K. Sullivan (New York: J. F. Wagner, 1955), pp. 4-5.
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Y los cautivos de Jerusalén, que están en Sefarad, ocuparán las ciudades del mediodía (Abd 20).
T HE GREAT CONJUNCTION OF 1603
A great conjunction involves both Saturn and Jupiter. They are very infrequent, occurring
every eight or nine hundred years. Some astrologers felt that such conjunctions were related to
the history of great religions. That of 1603 was given such an interpretation by those at pains to
justify the expulsion of the M oriscos. This is how Dr. Francisco Navarro expresses it:
Los efetos destas maximas conjunciones son muda r y alterar la vniuersal complicacion del mundo, los
imperios, sectas, gouiernos, costumbres.30
According to Aznar Cardona, this extraordinary astrological configuration, that took
place under the benign influence of Jupiter, denoted two things: the prosperity of Philip III and
the destruction within eight years of la secta de Mahoma:31
Si credito debemos dar a la astrologia s e ñ a l o p a r a su magestad real todas estas superiores grandezas, la
conjuncion maxima que fue a 24 de diciembre de 1603. Como lo dize en la figura della, bien calculada con
punctual obseruacion, el doctor Francisco Nau a r r o , valenciano. Segun este christiano astronomo,
experimentado en esta ciencia exp e r i me n t a l , dos cosas denoto esta extraordinaria conjuncion 32 con la
30.
31.
N AVARRO, Discvrso, p. 7.
The native prophetic tradition, falsely attributed to St. Isidoro of Seville, had since the eighth century been
attempting to predi c t the end of Islam. The earliest forecast was in the Crónica Albeldense (883 AD)
written during the r e i g n of Alfonso III of Asturias (866-910). Within this text is inserted a “ crónica
profética”, based on an adulterated prophecy of Ezechiel, which considered that the defeat of the Visigoths
by the Arabs was God’ s punishment for their sins. However, within “ one hundred and seventy ages” the
Arabs would themselves be defeated: M. G ÓMEZ MORENO, “ Las primeras crónicas de la reconquist a: el
ciclo de Alfonso III”, BAH, V (1932), pp. 565, 574-576. This “ P lanto d e E spaña”, was falsely attributed
to St Isidoro of Seville by Don Lucas of Túy (c. 1160-1249) in his Chronicon mundi and this attribution
was officially confirme d i n t h e P rimera crónica general of Alfonso X: MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad
mesiánica, p. 351. A version of this prophecy was associated with the revolutionary movement of the
“ comuneros” and is to be found in a MS describing the period: Relaçion de todo lo sucedido en las
comunides de Castilla y o tros Reynos Reynando el Emperador Carlos quinto, MS 1779, BNM, fols
37 v-38 v.
32.
“ […] y por esto siempre que estos dos planetas se han juntado, mudandose de vna triplicidad a otra, han
señalado y causado notablissimas mudanzas en las cosas susodichas, y entre todas e s ta es la mas fuerte y
poderosa de quantas ha auido, por ser como es en el signo de Sagitario, que es el mas fuerte s i g n o d e la
triplicidad ignea, por hacerse cerca de la estrella Regia cor Scorpij, que esta a los cinco grados de Sagitario:
N AVARRO, Discvurso, p. 8.
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benevola influencia de Iupiter. Vna la prosperidad reduplicada de nuestro rey don F e l i p e e l c a t h olico, y otra la
destruycion y ruyna de la secta mahometana dentro de ocho años, contando desde el presente de 1612. […]
This victory of Sagittarian Spaniards had been foretold by the prophets, the Sibyls and
even by Christ himself in Holy Scripure:
L o s s antos y no santos, los christianos y los moros, los theologos y los astrologos, los pro p h e t a s
extranumerales y las si b i l l a s , y aun, a mi juycio, el mismo soberano Dios en su escriptura santa, promete
a la christiandad de su magestad con sus sagitarios,33 que somos los españoles, la gloria desta tan desseada
victoria de victorias, con adquisicion de todas las riquezas, prosperidades, honras, patrimonios, dignidades,
reynos y prouincias poseydos de tyranos y reyes barbaros.34
As I have been saying, prophecies about the liberation of Jerusalem, followed by the
recapture of the Holy Sepulchre, are a feature of many of the apologetic works.35 It was
considered that Philip III had been especially chosen to defend God’s honour and his army was
to be made up of Sagittarians, an especially brave élite corps. M arcos de Guadalajara y Javier
cites another prophecy, supposedly written in 1200 in Arabic and translated in 1300 by a man
33.
Sagittarius is a fire sign, associated with fearless warriors and great and powerful kings. It is ruled by the
planet Jupiter. There were varying opinions as to which sign of the zodiac was to be assigned to Spain as
a whole. However, P tolemy, in his Almagest, Quadripartum associated it with Sagittarius: C. P tolemaeus,
Almagestum Cl. Ptolemei, Pheludiensis Alexandrini, astronorum principis, opus ingens ac nobile omnes
coeloroum motus continens (Venice: P ETRUS L IECHTENSTEIN, 1515), Ptolemy’s Almagest, tr a n s . & annot.
G. J. T O O M E R (London: Duckworth, 1984), Alfonso X, el sabio, Picatrix, Microfiche Concordances and
Texts of t h e R o y a l Scriptorium: Manuscripts of Alfonso X el sabio, ed. L. Kasten & J. Nitt (Madison:
Hispa n ic Seminar of Mediaeval Studies, 1978), Fiche I, pp. 21-24, fiche II, p. 405, cited in M. REILLY,
Alfonso X as Astrologer: A Reassessment, unpublis h ed MA thesis (Dublin: University College Dublin,
1989), pp, 17-18, 35.
34.
A ZNAR CARDONA, Expvlsion ivstificada, II, fols 144 r-145 r. The Great Conjunction is also mentioned by the
following apologists: G. E SCOLANO, Decada primera de la historia de la insigne y coronada ciudad y reyno
de Valencia (Valencia: P edro P atricio Mey, 1610-1611), ed. J. B. P ERALES (Valencia: Terraza y Aliena,
1879), II , p . 7 8 0 ; M . DE G UADALAJARA Y JAVIER Ivstissimo destierro, II, fols 159 v-160 r Navarro in his
book on the Great Conjunction predicts a return to the Golden Age: “ Finalmente pronostica y señala esta
conjuncion, y la vniuersal constitucion del cielo, y posicion de las planetas al tiempo della, mucha felicidad,
salud, riquezas, y vniueral prosperidad por el benevolo influjo de Iupiter, y destruyda la secta Mahometica,
llegaran los dorados siglos q u e estan cerca”: P erhaps this echoes the era of peace and prosperity that the
reign of the Emperor of the last Days was to usher in: NAVARRO, Discvrso, p. 14.
35.
“ He querido poner estos pronosticos, por entender que se han fundado en ellos los autores, que he leydo,
para dezir, que nuestro Catholico Rey, y sus serenissimos hijos, auian de quitar a los Turcos y M o r os, a
fuerça de armas su Imperio, y el Santo Sepulchro de Hierusalem”: G UA D A LAJARA Y JAVIER, Memorable
expulsion, fol 163 r.
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from M érida called Joaquín M éndez, then a slave in Jerusalem. It foretells the destruction of
Islam by a king “de rostro hermos o”, fair of face.36 This king will win back Jerusalem for
Christianity and the aid of the infidels’ French allies will be of no avail:
Llora Agar y lamenta Nilo que no veras cumplido el milenio. Esso es el pago de tus crueldades, y el premio
de tus sodomi a s . H i e r u s a l em saldra de la casa de Ismael, y entrara en ella el Monte Calvario, y los
estand a r tes de poniente. Ya me parece que siento las trompetas de los sagitarios (esto es los españoles, a
quien predomina el sign o de sagitario) sin que te valga, o Ismael, la ayuda de Francia: porque el Leon es
muy poderoso y Saturno y Iupiter lo significan en la conjuncion.
The author interprets this prophecy to mean that Philip III and his sons would bring to
an end the Turkish Empire and win back the Holy Sepulchre.37 Dr. Francisco Navarro in his
analysis of the Great Conjunction, a source much used by the apologists, argues that this victory
will confirm the pre-eminence and supremacy of Sagittarian Spain. He attributes this prediction
to the Arab astronomer/astrologer Abu M a’shar who lived in the eight and ninth centuries:
Coniunctio igitur Saturni et Iouis i n Sagitario circa cor Scorpij per Regiam stellam de natura Iouis et
Ma r t i s , 38 significat 39 quod prouincia cui signum dominabitur, omnium potentissima existens eis fiet
36.
P hysical beauty seems to be a hallmark of conquering heroes in all prophecies, both Christian and Morisco:
CARDAILLAC, Morisques et Crétiens, p. 413. Such is the description of the “ encubierto” (described below)
in the letter of Don Rodrigo P once de León to the Castilian nobles in 1486: “ Cómo el marqués de Cádiz,
don Rodrigo P once d e León, envió a los grandes de Castilla un juycio sacado de las revelaciones y
p r o fe c ías de San Juan y San Isidro, que le fué enviado por un sabio”, Colección de documentos inéditos
para la historia de España por el marqués de la Fuensanta del Valle (CODOIN), CVI (Madrid: Imprenta
de José P erales y Martínez, 1893), p. 250. The Greek Emperor of the Tiburtina Sibylline prophecy was tall,
handsome and with a radia nt face: COHN, the Millenium, p. 31. The prophecy cited above is related in full
in the work of Cristóbal López de Cañete: L ÓPEZ DE CAÑETE, Compendio, fol 2 3 v . This prophecy is one
of the Byzantine and Saracen ones that circulated at the end of the twelfth and th e b e g i nning of the
thirteenth centuries: P . A LPHANDÉRY, La crétienté et l’idée d e croisade, II (P aris: Éditions Albin Michel,
1959), pp. 91-96
37.
38.
G UADALAJARA Y JAVIER, Ivstissimo destierro, II, fols. 161 v-163 r.
In Alfonso X’ s Libro de las cruzes the planet Jupiter is considered to aid the Christian Spaniard s w hile
Mars is the planet of the Arabs: Alfonso X, Libro de las cruzes, chap. LIX, fiche II, pp. 401-402, in Reilly,
Alfonso X, p. 24.
39.
Navarro ascri b e s this analysis to Abu Ma’ shar: N AVARRO, Discvurso, p. 30. This Arab astrologer/
a s t r omomer, who lived during the eighth and ninth centuries of the Christian era, wrote a work on gre a t
conjunctions. This was published in Latin in the late fifteenth century: Abu M a ’ shar, De magnis
coniunctionibus (Augsburg: Erhardt Ratdolt, 1489). Another edition was printed in Venice in 1515.
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suprema.40
“ EL REY LEÓN DE ESPAÑA”:41 PHILIP III AND THE B O O K O F R EVELATION
The representation of Spain as a lion also has Apocalyptic overtones and recalls the Great
Lion of Judah. The lion had been of primordial importance in the M ediaeval bestiaries. There
are, of course, obvious associations between the “león de España” and the heraldic emblem of
the kingdom of Leon. It also formed part of the iconography of the native prophetic tradition, in
particular the Baladro del sabio Merlín that is found in the romance of chivalry La demanda del
Santo Grial (1500).
Blas Verdú, another apologist, again specifically links this “Rey León de España” with
40.
According to the Crónica profética, inserted in the Crónica Albeldense (883 AD), Arabic astrologers and
astronomers were c o n s i d e r e d to have predicted the end of Islam: G ÓMEZ MORENO, P rimeras crónicas”, p.
578. Aznar Cardona mentions the following: Hali (is this ‘ Ali ibn al-‘ Abbás, al-Majúsi al-Arrrajání, who
wrote Liber regalis despositio nominatus ex arabico (Venice: Bernardus Ricius, 1492) and was a doctor,
or Albuhali, author of De electione horarum?), Alpharabio (is this Al-Farabi a philosopher/theologian who
opposed ast r o l o g y? ) Alchabitius (‘ Abd al-‘ Azíz ibn Uthmán, al Habísí) whose work was printed in
translation in the late fifteenth century, J. Hispalensis, Libellus ysagogicus Abdilazi... qui dicitur Alchabitus
ad magisterium iudiciorum astrorum interpretatus a Joanis Hispalensis scriptum (Venice: Erhardt Ratdolt,
1485), and Albumazar (Abu Ma’ shar): A ZNAR CARDONA, Expvlsion ivstificada, II, fol. 144 v.
41.
The lion of the tribe of Judah is found in the following books of t h e Old Testament: (Gen 49, 9), (Oseas,
5, 14) and also in (Rev 4, 7, 5, 5).
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the recovery of Jerusalem. This rather nasty injunction to the king to exercise divine retribution
very much embodies the spirit of the Old Testament:
Y tu nieto del Cesar Carlos Quinto […] Ierusalem aguarda tu restauraciõ, y aquellos lugares santos donde
fuyste redemido tu redempcion. Ea pues Monarcha, Leon de la casa de Austria, saca las vñas, y põ en
execucion lo que manda el cielo.42
The depiction of Philip III as “el Rey León” is claimed by the apologist Jaime Bleda to
be the fulfilment of a prophecy of the Eritraean Sibyl. According to this the Lion will conquer
Asia, weaken it and enthrone the Lamb of the Book of Revelation (14):
Leo conteret regionem Assyae vt debilitet, & confringat capitabestiae [sic], & colocauit Agnum in sceptrum
bestiae,43 & usque huc sedes eius.44
42.
B. VERDÚ, Engaños y desengaños del tiempo con vn Discurso de la expulsion de los Moriscos de España
(Barcelona: Sebastian Matheuad, 1612), fol s 146 v-147 r. Gaspar Aguilar also expresses this notion: “ Canto la
eterna memorable hazaña/ de la expulsion de la Morisca gente/ por el brauo Leon que d e s d e E s paña/ de
Africa humilla la soberuia frente”: G. A GUILAR, Expvlsion de los moros de España por la S. R. C. magestad
del rey don Phelipe tercero, nuestro señor (Valencia: P edro P atricio Mey, 1610), p. 1.
43.
A side note in the text adds [capita bestiae] imperij orientalis.
44.
B LEDA, Defensio fidei, p. 537; Guadalajara y Javier, Ivstissimo destierro, fol. 160r. This is indee d t a k e n
from the Erithraean Sibyl: O. H OLDER E GGER, “ Italienische prophetien des 13. Jahrhunderts”, Neues Archiv
des Gesellschaft für altere deutsche Geschichtskunde, XV (1889), p. 155. The Sibyls were considered by
some of the Fathers of the Chur c h t o have foretold events in the life of Christ and Our Lady. A
contemporary work on the S i b y l s s tates: “ Clemente Alexandrino […] dize que assi como Dios, Nuestro
Señor, les dio a los iudios profetas que les diessen noticia de la venida del Hijo de Dios al mundo, assi les
dio a los griegos y gentiles profeti s as que les diessen esta misma noticia, para que en ningun tiempo
pudiessen alegar ignorancia en cosa de tanta importancia”: B. P ORREÑO, Oraculos de las doçe sibilas.
Profetisas de Christo, Nuestro Señor, entre los gent i l e s ( Cuenca: Domingo de la Yglesia, 1621), fol 1 r.
Lactantius, the Church Father, in his attempts to justify a minority rel i g i o n , saw echoes of Christian
teaching in the oracles of the Sibyls. He specifically refers t o t h e E r i thraean Sibyl: Lactantius, Divinae
institutiones, IV, Chap. 15, 26. Eusebius, in his Life of Constantine, made the last major statement on the
S i b y l s . H e r e fers to the acrostic verses found in the writings of the Erithraean Sibyl that purported t o
foretell the coming of Christ in the following words: “ Jesus Christ Son of God, Saviour, cross”. Augustine,
although his familiarity with the Sibylline oracles was slight, placed them among those in the City of God
because he cons i d e r e d t h a t they had opposed false gods: A UGUSTINE, De civitate Dei, XVIII, 23.
Augus t i n e's judgement had considerable influence on the acceptance of the Sibyls as pre-Christian
prophetesses: H. W. P A R K E , Sibyls and Sibylline Prophecy in Classical Antiquity, ed. B. C. MCGING
(London: Routledge, 1988), pp. 163–165. Both Augustine’ s commentary and that of Lactantius are referred
to by Aznar Cardona (fol 149v). P orreñ o ’ s work both reproduces the acrostic verses and says of the
Eritraean Sibyl: “ P intan a ella con vn cordero, por ser este la insignia de Christo, Nuestro Señor, de quien
ella dixo tantas prophecias; y así le dixo San Juan Bautista: Ecce Agnus Dei”:, P orreño, Oráculos, 71 r–71 v.
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Acknowledging Bleda as source, M arcos de Guadalajara y Javier provides a gloss in
Castilian, citing first part of the favourable horoscope of Spain by Cardinal Peter d’Ailly (Pedro
Aliaco). M ay I draw your attention to the prophecy in Latin of Raymond of Verona which the
author links to Spain by judicious quotation from the twelfth-century hist orian Petrus
Comestor:45
El Cardenal P edro Aliaco dize de […] España: Felix faustaque est, Deo & coelo propitio [Spain is happy
and fortunate due to the favours of God and heaven]. P or lo qual vino a dezir la Sybila Eritrea: Quebratara
el Leon el valor y señoria del Asia; con que quedara debilitada la gran bestia, y sobre su ceptro entroniçara
el Cordero para siempre. Que el Rey de España sea este Leon: afirmalo en su p r o n o stico del año mil
quinientos sedenta y vno, Anibal Raymundo de Verona, diziendo: Illo anno Leonem robustum dentes
suosostensurum, morsurumque eos qui dentes laedare conatur.46 Y dize Comestor grauissimo autor en sus
baticinios; Regem Hispaniae v n a c u m Imperatore toti Orbi dominaturum, & Ecclesiae afflictae opem
allaturum, fusis, & profligatis vndequaque hereticis .47
This “León de España” recalls the Great Lion of Judah of the Book of Revelation who
alone was found worthy to open the volume sealed with seven seals. (In the ideology of Joachim
of Fiore the opening of the seventh s eal heralded the beginning of the Sabbath Age.):
And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath
prevailed to open the book and loose the seven seals thereof.48
Belief in the veracity of the Sibyls was incorporated into the Dies irae which was recited with frequency.
This thirteenth-century sequence recalls the day of Judgement. In the third line the Sibyl’ s witness to this
“ day of wrath” is coupled with that of King David: “ teste David cum Sibylla”. It was obligatory for the first
mass on All Souls’ Day, at requiem and anniversary Masses: Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church,
ed. F. L. Cross & F. A. Livingstone (Oxford: Oxford University P ress, 1974), p. 402.
45.
G UADALAJARA Y JAVIER, Ivstissimo destierro, fol 160 v. P eter d’ Ailly (1350-1420) believed broadly in the
doctrine of great conjunctions and their value in predicting the course of Christian history. In his book A
Corcord of History and A s t r o l o gy he argued that the stars could influence even Jesus and Mary by
reinforcing their natura l virtue: J. D. NORTH, Horoscopes and History (London: Warburgh Institute,
University of London, 1986), pp. 164, 166.
46.
B L E D A, Defensio fidei, p. 537; Guadalajara y Javier, Memorable expvlsion, II, fol 160 r; A ZNAR CARDON A ,
Expvlsion ivstificada, II, fol 149 v.
47.
BLEDA, Defensio fidei, p. 537; G UADALAJARA Y JAVIER, Memorable expvlsion, II, fol. 1 6 0 r . P e t rus
C o me s t o r (died between 1178 and 1198), wrote the Scholasticae historiae. He was of French or Italia n
origin: Enciclopedia universal ilustrada (europeo-americana), XIV (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1912), p. 646.
48.
A p oc 5, 5. My bible is the Douai translation (1609), 3rd. impression (London: Catholic Truth S o c i e t y ,
1957).
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The Lion of Judah represented Christ, who was from the Chosen People, and Philip III,
King of the new Elect, is here selected as the instrument of God’s wrath in bringing to an end
la secta de Mahoma.
Finally I quote Dr Francisco Navarro who ends his book on the Great Conjunction with
a rather nasty political prophecy concerning the “León de España”. He does not give a source.
This predict ion depicts Islam as the embodiment of lust and sensuality, a constant jibe in
anti-Islamic polemic:
Vencera el fuer t e l e o n a l libidinoso cabron. Embidioso el Gallo [France? ] se atreuera al leõ. El Leon le
vencera, y auido la victoria, y quitadas las mas fuertes plumas del gallo casi sin sangre boluera a sus
cachorillos a los quales ternan puestos en aprieto las sierpes de Babilonia. [… ] E s to me parece se puede
coniecturar supuesta voluntad de Dios, a cuyas ordenes obedecen las estrellas inuiolablemente: 49
PHILIP III AS A PLAGUE-BEARING ANGEL OF THE APOCALYPSE
All the apologists rely heavily on biblical figurae in their task of justifying the expulsion
of the M oriscos.50 Their assumption of Spanish pre-eminence forms a background to all their
assertions. Aznar Cardona uses an extract from the Pseudo-Methodius Sibylline prophecy to
reinforce this belief
[…] et erit regnum christianorum exaltatum super omnia regna.51
He claims that Philip III’s divine election as defender of the Church and champion of
God’s honour was prefigured by the angel[s] entrusted by God to guard the gates of Paradise.
Philip III has like the angel struggled tirelessly to defend the Church’s dogmas and to fight on
behalf of God’s honour:
En fin es rey señalado por el cielo y representado en aquel relumbrante cortesano celestial, protector del
49.
N AVARRO, Discvurso, p. 63. The depiction of the “ Rey León de España” as scourge of Spanish Islam is still
to be found in the reign of P hilip IV: Matute y Acevedo, El triunfo del desengaño, pp. 89-90, 106.
50.
The use of fig u r a e had been practised by the prophets as eschatological symbolism in the history of
salvation. Jesus also extensively alluded to figures to show how the mystery of salvation was developing
in conformity with the scriptures. Th e A p ostolic writings, particularly those of St. P aul to the Hebrews,
continued this practice: Dictionary of Biblical Theology, e d . X. León-Dufour, translation directed by P .
Joseph Cahill O. P . (London/Dublin: Geoffrey Chapman, 1967), pp. 152–156.
51.
This line precedes a passage previously quoted: “ Imponent c hristiani iugum super Sarracenos, et erit pax
et t r a n q u i l l i t as magna super terram qualis non fuit antea, nec similis post illam. P orro sectam Mahometi
cito finem h a b i t u r am, multa praedixerunt vaticinia”, A ZNAR CARDONA, Expvlsion ivstificada, II, fol. 149 r.
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parayso terreno […] En este amable angel del cielo, nos fue representado nuestro an g e l ico Felipe, rey nuestro,
saluaguarda y amparo del P arayso Espiritual de la Iglesia christiana, tutor y pacificador d e l a republica, protector
d e los opresos, conseruador de las leyes diuinas y humanas, guerreador bellicoso por las causas al honor de D i o s
annexas, y mantenedor de la justicia.52
He equates the King’s role with that of one of the seven plague-bearing angels of
Revelation who, from their vials, poured out the wrath of God upon the earth. Thus Philip III is
the instrument of God’s anger towards the infidel M oriscos:
Et tertius angelu s e ffudit phialam suam super flumina et super fontes aquarum et factus est sanguis (Apoc
6,14).53
Aznar Cardona’s grounds for this assertion are rather slight: Philip III did not make the
rivers run red with blood by executing the M orisco heretics even though the author felt that this
would have been a reasonable punishment.54 Although the justification for this quotation is
slender it is yet another example of the vengeful Old Testament God to whom all the apologists
constant ly refer. Aznar Cardona continues his exegesis: he claims that this passage from
Revelation predicts the expulsion of the M oriscos as many had lived on the banks of the rivers
Ebro, the Xalón, the M artín, the Cinca, the Segre, and also near the M arina of Valencia and
“celebrated” M oncayo. He states that the passage “et factus est sanguis” is both metaphorical and
literal: it refers both to the civil death and banis hment of the M oriscos and to their actual
physical decease. M any also expired on their voyage into exile and yet others were refused entry
into their countries by right-minded people:
Hasta los montes infalibles parece les escupian de si, no consi n t i e n d o l e s en parte alguna, no siendoles
52.
The passage cont i n u e s t hus: “ Esle semejante [al angel], porque assí como el querubin illustrissimo con
aquel estoque de dos cortes defendio, por comision de Dios, a q u el P arayso illustrissimo donde estaba el
arbol de la vida transitoria. Assi este nuestro rey catholicis s i mo denende con el montante de su potestad
real (espada tremenda durandina, o tizona de Dios) el P arayso de la Iglesia, mas p r e c i o s o que aquel, por
la presencia del arbol de la vida eterna, Christo; vedando la entrada del, a los malos espiritus, de peruersas
e r e g ias y sectas reprouadas, y desterrando los atreuidos preuaricadores de sus santas leyes” (Gen 3, 24) :
Aznar Cardona, Expvlsion ivstificada, II, fol. 8 1 r - 8 1 v . I t was common in the seventeenth century for
Spaniards to consider that the deeds of their country h a d b e e n fo r e told in scripture: H ERRERO G ARCÍA,
Ideas de los españoles, p. 19.
53.
Apoc 16, 4. Az nar Cardona, Expvlsion ivstificada , II, fol. 90r. This also recalls the passage in Exodus in
which Aaron is commanded by God to inflict the first plague upon Egypt by striking the river his rod upon
the water which then turns to blood (Ex 7, 20).
54.
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de consuelo. Cumpliose aquella letra en ellos: Ipsi montes nollunt recipere fugam nostram.55
POLITICAL PROPHECIES AT THE TIM E OF FERDINAND E L CATÓLICO:”EL REY
LEÓN”, “ EL ENCUBIERTO” AND THE NEW DAVID
All the political prophecies used by the apologists have previously been used in Aragon.
Among those in circulation at the time of Ferdinand and Isabella the images of “rey león”,
“encubierto” and New David are all used. In the Baladro del sabio Merlín (1500) there are four
references to Ferdinand as both “rey león” and New David.56 The epithet “encubierto”, which
M ilhou considers to be a Hispanic version of the myth of the sleeping Emperor of the Last
Days,57 is used in the letter of Rodrigo Ponce de León to the Castilian nobles (1486).58 The
motive for the letter was to rouse the nobles to action in the war against Granada. It did this by
ascribing to Ferdinand the eschatological qualities present in the millenarian European political
prophecies. These had been adopted by the house of Aragon following the acquisition of Sicily
in 1282.59
Related to the notion of “rey encubierto” is that of “San Fernando redivivo” by which
Ferdinand el católico was considered to be in some way an embodiment of his illustrious
predecessor, Ferdinand III who, at his death in 1252, was popularly acclaimed a saint.60 The
Catholic apologist, M arcos de Guadalajara y Javier, applies this prophecy, by which someone
by this name would be instrumental in the destruction of Spanish Islam, to Ferdinand, son of
Philip III. On the occasion of the birth of Prince Ferdinand a party was held in Valencia. On
hearing the name to be given to the child the M oriscos were saddened:
55.
A ZNAR CARDONA, Expvlsion ivstificada, II, 93 r-94r. Mountains and hills are frequently depicted in scripture
as a place o f r e fu g e for those in flight. Aznar Cardona denies such a haven to the unfortunate Moriscos.
This scorn for and intense dislike of them is typical of his writing.
56.
Baladro del sabio Merlín: Primera parte de La demanda del Santo Grial: Libros de caballerías, ed. A.
Bonilla de San Martín, NBAE, VI (Madrid: Bailly Baillière e hijos, 1907), pp. 160-162.
57.
COHN, The Millenium, p. 113.
58.
“ Rodrigo P once de León”, pp. 248, 250.
59.
MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 33.
60.
MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 3 6 2 . F o l lowing the death of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen
various impostors claimed t o b e t h e emperor in resurrected form. Later popular folklore and myth
superseded political posturing and many believed in a millenarian figure who, once resurrected, would be
a grea t s o c i a l and church reformer and a messiah of the poor: COHN, The Millenium, pp. 113-117. In the
late fifteenth century the prophecies concerning the Second Charlemagne were applied to the future Charles
V: REVES, The Influence of Prophecy, p. 359.
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[…] dixo u n Alfaqui de gran nombre, y buena opinion entre ellos. Felipo y Fernando su hijo nos han de
perseguir, el padre nos expelera y el hijo destruy r a t o da la gente Mahometana de la otra parte del mar. Y
otros Moriscos referia, que cierto P rincipe de España, que tendria n o mb r e d e F i erro, esto es Ferrando o
Ferdinando, seria martillo y destruycion de los Sarracenos.61
T HE NEW DAVID
In Joachimist millenarian prophecy the image of New David is applied bot h to a
reforming universal emperor and to a saintly pope, or “Pastor Angelicus”.62 Both the New David
and t he Encubierto feature in the messianic dreams of the visionary Lucrecia de León
(1587-1588) who predicted the establisment a millenarian kingdom which would be founded in
Toledo. Then, following the overthrow of the House of Hapsburg, a new kingdom for a select
few would be set up and ruled over by a certain M iguel de Piedrola who was given the titles of
both “segundo David” and “otro David”.63 There is also an ambiguous reference to an
“encubierto”, which may be a reference to Piedrola.64 The religious order set up by Piedrola’s
followers called La Congregación de la Nueva Restauración had as one of its aims the liberation
of Jerusalem and the recapture of the Holy Sepulchre.65
The title of New David is used by Guadalajara y Javier who applies it to a reforming
pope. Spiritual renewal in the Church will follow the overthrow of Islam as the King of Spain
will join the pontiff in the campaign to recover Jerusalem. This union of pope and king recalled
the idealogy of Joachim of Fiore. The notion that Spain has been singled out by God underlies
the phrase “cubierto de la gracia de Dios”. (23)
En este medio se leuantara en la Iglesia el epiritu de vn nueuo David, que sera vn P ontifice Romano,
e scogido por la mano de Dios, el qual reedificara su Iglesia Catholica. […] Este nueuo P ontifice bol u e r a
la Iglesia a su antigu o estado, y reduzira los hereges; y despues de reduzidos, se juntara con el Rey,
cubierto de la gracia de Dios: Y los dos tomaran todos los thesoros de las Iglesias, y hecho moneda
61.
G UADALAJARA Y JAVIER, Memorable expvlsion, fol 160 r.
62.
Joachim of Fiore himself gave the New David a priestly rather th a n a s ecular role: Reeves, The Influence
of Prophecy, p. 304. As mentioned before, in Aragon Arnald of Villanova gave the king this title and the
eschatological role of the reconstruction of the citadel of Sion: MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica,
p. 235. During the crusades, at different times, both the French king and German emperors were called
either a rex justus or New David: MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 234.
63.
MILHOU, Colón y su mentalidad mesiánica, p. 247.
64.
Sueños y procesos de Lucrecia de León (Madrid: Tecnos, 1987), p. 241.
65.
Sueños y procesos, p. 137.
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leuantaran gente en la Christiandad, y con exercitu poderoso, marcharan la buelta de Hierusalem.66
APOCALYPTIC VISIONS AND CELESTIAL PORTENTS:
I shall refer briefly to apocalyptic visions and celestial portents. Such phenomena are
cited by some of the apologists who claim that they set a divine seal of approval on the policy
of expulsion. Aznar Cardona refers to an apocalyptic vision that is purported to have been seen
in Santiago de Galicia in 1609, the year in which the first of the expulsions took place. The Lion,
who represents “el rey católico”, and the serpent or dragon, who represents Islam, the Antichrist,
were seen in the sky and between them could be heard Santiago’s war cry “¡Cierra, España,
cierra!”:
Lo mismo [the destruction of Islam] significaron los prodigios, y visiones, del año 1609 sucedidos en San
Tiago de Galicia, a donde entre la serpiente, o dragon, con sus escuadrones malignos, aparecidos a l l i en
el ayre, y entre el Leon con sus exercitos victoriosos, se percibieron bien aquellas vozes sensibles, ¡Cierra,
España, cierra! , que el Leon (esto es el rey catolico), vence y vencera.67
This mythification of Philip III and the association with Santiago Batallador is also found
elsewhere among the apologists.68
The apologist Damián Fonseca describes many apocalyptic phenomena that occurred in
Aragon and Valencia in the early years of the seventeenth century. In 1602, in Aragon, fire
descended from Heaven69 shortly afterwards, in Valencia, a blood-stained cloud appeared;70
66.
G UADALAJARA Y JAVIER, Memorable expvlsion, fol 160 v.
67.
A ZNAR CARDONA, Expvlsion ivstificada, II, 146v. In the margin the author states; “ Hay vna relacion sobre
esto”. To date I have failed to locate this. In the Middle ages the Antichrist was often portrayed as a demon
or dragon flying in the air and surrounded by lesser demons: COHN, The Millenium, pp. 17-18.
68.
There is a striking example in the epic poem of Gaspar Aguilar. P hilip III is depicted as a celestial vision
seen by the Moriscos who were resisting the expulsion edict on the Sierra de Laguar. The king appears on
a white charger and is trampling underfoot Moorish figures in a way customary in the iconography of
Santiago. In fact the description is strikingly similar to a depiction of S a n t iago by Francisco Ribalta
(1565-1628) painted in 1603 at the request of the P atriarch of Valencia, Don Juan de Ribera, for the church
in Algemesí, a “ lugar de moriscos”: A GUILAR, Expvlsion de los moros de España, p. 144.
69.
“ En el mismo Reyno [Aragón], año 1602, baxò grande fuego del cielo que abrasò la tierra en vn lugar que
se llamaua Ambel. Sin duda que enojado el cielo por los grandes sacrile g i o s y heregias de aquellos
blasfemos, ministraua a la tierra el elemento con el qual mereci a n s e r c a s tigados”: D. FONSECA, Ivsta
expvlsion, pp. 166-167. In Revelation (8, 4), following the playing of the first trumpet, hailstones and fire
mixed with blood descended to earth, burning a third of the trees and all of the grass.
70.
“ En Valencia poco tiempo despues se vio hacia la tramontana por espacio de muchos dias vna nu u e muy
clara, y en a l g u nas partes manchada de sangre, la qual duraua quatro horas continuas, no con admiracion
de los Astrologos de los que la mirauamos, considerando en el fuego, y nuue sangrienta del cielo, que era
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horrendous earthquakes took place in the town of Gandía in Valencia 71 finally, in September of
1603, in Castellón del Duque, hails t ones the size of hens’ eggs were seen to fall.72 Such
apocalyptic horrors were, the author concluded, signs of God’s anger at the sacrilege and
blasphemy of the M oriscos and his indication that they should be expelled en masse. They were
a dramatic continuation of the omens and portents of disaster in a new century that had begun
with with the mysterious tolling of the bell in the church in Velilla in Aragon.
RESUM EN
Los apologistas católicos, en sus obras escritas en la década después de la expulsión de
los moriscos, intentaron mitificar al rey Felipe III. Le imputaron el papel del Emperador de los
Últimos Días, personaje mítico derivado de las profecías sibilinas medievales (la Tiburtina y la
de San M etodio) y de la exégesis bíblica milenaria de Joachim de Fiore. También le atribuyeron
el rol del Rey León de España, que relacionaron con el León de Judá; ambas figuras míticas
habían de reconquistar Jerusalén y acabar con “la secta de M ahoma”. Según los apologistas el
papel del rey como extirpador del Islam fue confirmado por la gran conjunción de 1603, que los
apologistas relacionaron con el horóscopo de natividad del mismo rey.
ABSTRACT
The Catholic Apologists, in those works written in the decade after the expulsion of the
M oriscos, attempted to mythicize king Philip III. They ascribed to him the rôle of the Emperor
of the Last Days, a mythical personage derived from M edieval, Sibylline prophecies
la voluntad de Dios, que fuessen echados de España los Moriscos, y si fuesse necessario, a fuego y sangre”:
FONSECA, Ivsta expvlsion, p. 167.
71.
“ En la villa de Gandia y lugares circu n u e z i nos, donde estaua la mayor y peor morisma del Reyno, huuo
por este tiempo muchos, y horribles terremotos, y se abria la tierra por muchas pa r t e s , de manera que
parecia se hazia bocas para tragarse viuos estes Datanes y Abirones”: FONSECA, Ivsta e x p v l s i o n, p. 167.
Following the opening of the sixth seal in Revelation (6, 12) there was an earthquake and after the opening
of the seventh seal (8, 5), there was thunder and lightning and earth tremors.
72.
“ A l os 13 de Setiembre del año 1603, en Castellón del Duque, lugar de Moriscos, de la villa de Albaida
en el Reyno de Valencia, estando por la mañana juntos casi todos los del lugar, y altercando sobre vn caso,
que auia acontecido, començò el vno a escharse maldiciones, y señaladamente dixo. Mal remolino me lleue,
si esto no es assi. Y luego à la tarde, estand o e l c i e l o sereno y la mayor parte dellos en la plaça, se fue
formando vna nuue negra, y creciendo poco a p oco, se estendio como vna manga muy escura, la qual
començò a granizar piedras gruessas y algunas tan grandes como hueuos”. There later followed a whirlwind
that uprooted 700 trees: FONSECA, Ivsta expvlsion, p. 167. These hailstones recalls those of Revelation (16,
21).
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(the Tiburtina and that of St. M ethodius) and from the millenarian biblical exegesis of Joachim
of Fiore. They also attributed to him the rôle of the Lion King of Spain, which they related to the
Lion of Judah; both mythical figures were to reconquer Jerusalem and bring to an end “the sect
of M uhammad”. According to the Apologists the king’s rôle as extirpator of Islam w as
confirmed by the great conjunction of 1603, which the Apologists related to the nativit y
horoscope of the king himself.
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